


One More Day

by Aruhyunnie



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - MAMA (EXO Music Video), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Minor Use of Alcohol, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 05:16:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14948258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aruhyunnie/pseuds/Aruhyunnie
Summary: Minseok was blessed with the power to control ice, only to be born into a world where people with supernatural abilities get executed without hesitation. Life is stressful enough, until he meets a man called Byun Baekhyun who's throwing his last remaning sanity into the trash.[ xiubaek/ (upcoming) baekchen | futuristic utopia setting ]





	One More Day

**Author's Note:**

> **** OK please read this before continuing!  
> !  
> This is a rather huge side project I've been working on for a while now, which will take my main priority after finishing my ficfest related works. There will be more EXO members present, but I'll update the tags as the story goes along (which is completely planned out already!).
> 
> Future chapters are going to include non-graphic violence and *maybe* include sexual themes, depending on if I'll be able to write it by then.
> 
> s/o to rupaul's drag race season 10 for helping me getting through this pile of dirt #teamaquaria

Nightmares are usually things you shouldn't be worried about. Once you wake up, it's over, you open your eyes and you're back in the real world. Nightmares, however, is what described Kim Minseok's daily life pretty well. If you didn't take a closer look, you'd never notice how much paranoia and anxiety lived inside the young adult, and you certainly wouldn't know the secret he had to keep if he didn't want to die on the spot. With him, many others shared the same agony, days filled with prayers and behaving on point – without a single mistake. Praying that no one would snitch their true identity, praying that no one would get caught behaving strangely. Kim Minseok, among other hidden individuals, was an “unnatural” human. That's how people were called who were born with supernatural abilities. 

He himself got blessed with the power of ice, his body adapting quickly to freezing temperatures, able to freeze anything within seconds. Despite having one of the rarest abilities, he thought of his blessing as a curse, something that decided how his life played out, how many nights he had to stay awake without closing his eyes once. During day time, he worked in a rather large office and luckily, he wasn't suspicious, at least not suspicious enough to attract other peoples' attention. 

Thankfully, which might sound selfish, there was another person at his workplace who shared the same fate as him – his name was Kim Jongdae, a slightly younger male than him, “blessed” with the power of thunder. Arguably a more useful power than Minseok's in everyday life, but he didn't use his power at all, not in secret, and especially not in public. He accustomed rather quickly, sometimes forgetting he even had supernatural abilities in the first place. Not so surprisingly however, was his reaction towards Minseok, who did use his powers in secret. Sometimes for practice, sometimes to mess with Jongdae. A while ago, they weren't too close, but they only had each other for a while now – the company of the other was enough not to turn insane due to stress and months later, they've bonded through their love for music.

At times, Minseok believed that without Jongdae, he would've gone insane years ago.

“You know,” Jongdae filled his shot glass with Vodka, which he bought just a few hours ago. Buying alcohol wasn't easy, but working at a reputable office had it's advantages. “maybe, living like this isn't too bad.”

“What do you mean?” Minseok mumbled, cooling his head with a wet cloth above the sink to avoid getting Jongdae's table wet. “Aren't you the one who shits himself every time you hear the word 'execution'?”

“At least I'm not a prime suspect for the next execution.” He slurred, drinking his shot immediately after. Jongdae wasn't a prime suspect for death by execution, but death by alcohol poisoning if he continued to drink like that.

“You have a point there.” The older nibbled on his bottle of beer, closely watching his friend getting more and more wasted as the night continued. “Consider yourself lucky that you don't have to work tomorrow.”

Jongdae, the more paranoid of the two, always spent his Sundays like this. Drinking with his best friend (who usually had to work on Mondays) and talking about nonsense. He went so far to lock all doors, so in case he'd use his powers on accident, nobody would know – cautious, but a really good idea.

Minseok checked the time – 3 AM, which meant that he had to sleep soon. Going to work tiredly wasn't bad if it happened once or twice, but if it happens repeatedly, it could attract suspicion from others. His co-workers might be nice, but they can and will snitch anyone if they can. It happened twice already, in three years alone. Executions might be a huge topic among “unnaturals”, but they didn't happen too often. Sighing, he put the bottle into the sink.

“I'm leaving, Jongdae. Are you sure that you'll survive the night?” The younger only responded with a thumbs up, his eyes half closed and ready to snooze off. The sight was a bit cute, Minseok had to admit. Before he left Jongdae's apartment, he threw a blanket on top of Jongdae and wished him a good night.

 

Admittedly, night time was much more enjoyable than day time, yet much more dangerous. Patrols were still out, even late at night, and there was nobody you could trust as an unnatural. For normal humans, this world was like an utopia, everything was lively and the government supported everyone who stayed loyal and snitched people – for unnaturals, life was a living hell. Minseok sometimes questioned why he even bothered – maybe, death wasn't so unpleasant, compared to his current situation at least.

Despite his life feeling like prison, he caught himself using his powers unintentionally, especially now, as he was slightly drunk and tired. Minseok dragged himself across the streets, avoiding eye contact with the patrolling soldiers, police men, whatever the heck they were, slightly moving his fingers in the air to create small snowflakes when no one was around. Now, his drunken states never harmed him, at least not until now. In hindsight, he should've thought that more through. 

Minseok was so focused on looking around to spot patrolling troops and trying to uphold his snowflakes, that he didn't notice the person who turned around the corner – and bumped into Minseok. “Excuse me!” 

Only few seconds after he got himself back onto his feet, he realized what just happened. His eyes widened in shock, taking a look at his hand, which he immediately hid behind his back and then faced the person standing in front of him. Good fucking bye Kim Minseok, he thought. 

The person, who was a small-ish male, about the same height as Minseok, red hair hidden under a black hat and a dark coat hiding most of his body. He eyed him carefully, not making a sound or saying a word. It was almost creepy how he stared at Minseok, he felt so transparent and helpless in this situation. Gulping, Minseok slowly started to accept his fate, beads of sweat running down his cold face.

“Is everything alright over here?” Ah, the static, monotone voice of a soldier. Minseok avoided them at all costs, even during daytime, so every time he had to hear them speaking, his throat turned dry. “Did this man bother you?”

Minseok closed his eyes, being ready to get shot. It was too late for an execution anyway.

“Ah no, I bumped into him because we turned corners at the same time.” 

Wait, what? 

The solider nodded, looking down upon the probably younger Minseok, his glance freezing even Minseok's cold body. Without any other word, the solider left. No emotion, no second thoughts, like a machine, he stepped off and continued to patrol the street, but still close enough to overhear their voices. That's what Minseok thought when the soldier looked over as the person he previously bumped into started talking. 

“I haven't seen you in ages, Mr. Kim!” Minseok felt like he crashed at Jongdae's and was just dreaming. What exactly just happened? “I still remember you tutoring me a few years back. Meeting you brings back old memories..”

“Who are y– “ “I know this is sudden, but I had a fight with my wife. Is it alright, despite us not talking for ages, to crash at your place?”

What a bad excuse, Minseok thought. Not only was it extremely late at night, the guard probably saw the latter staring at Minseok for a while, but also two people who “know” each other meeting at 3 AM, randomly? If he wanted to snitch Minseok, he could've done it earlier. What a sadist, he mumbled, but trying not to raise any more suspicion, he accepted, leading the mysterious male to his apartment, which luckily, wasn't too far away from that point on. The unknown male talked about his day, probably to cover up anything that happened before, asking if Minseok was drunk and how his night was. He seemed to know what he was doing, despite his dumb excuse earlier.

Maybe declining would've been better after all.

Not even ten minutes later, both arrived at Minseok's apartment, the male visibly anxious about the strange situation. “My eyes didn't fool me when I saw it before, did they? You have an ability?”

Ah yes, being caught just because Minseok was slightly drunk. What a pleasure.

“If you want to see me get executed tomorrow, I have to say that you're very sadistic. Couldn't you let the solider shoot me instead?” Minseok was arguably more sarcastic when drunk, crossing his arms while he examined the latter.

“If I really wanted you to get executed, I would've done so myself, moron. I'm not here to bust you.” He took off his hat, and to Minseok's surprise, he was a handsome man, his eyes bright and face decorated with the most beautiful make-up he'd ever seen. “My name is Byun Baekhyun, nice to meet a fellow unnatural.” 

Now, the male felt like he was dreaming for a little too long. Jongdae should wake him up already, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wake up. All of this seemed like the beginning of another nightmare. Minseok averted his eyes towards the male's hands, forming a claw with bright light emerging from it. “As you can see, I was gifted with the power of light – the rarest of them all.”

There's no reason for an unnatural to expose themselves like that, even in front of other unnaturals. Despite them being all in this together, some would still snitch on others to get favors from the government. Of course, Minseok never did that, and he never would – he's questioned everyone who even thought about that.

“My name is Kim Minseok.” He averted his eyes from Minseok's face, carefully examining the others body, ice cold steam leaking through his fingertips. 

“So 'Mr. Kim' was right after all. All hail the guessing king.” Baekhyun grinned widely, sitting down in front of Minseok. “I'll take this random encounter as an opportunity.. I need you to help me.”

“With what? I don't even know you.” Minseok, again, refused to be friendly towards Byun Baekhyun, despite him 'saving' his life just a few minutes ago. 

“This might sound sudden and I don't have anything planned out in my head yet, but your power could be useful. Help me with overthrowing the government.”

Now that escalated quickly.

“I have to do what? You're kidding right? Baekhyun, you're not a spy sent by my workplace to check if I am an unnatural or not, right?”

“Why would an unnatural with a power as unique as mine get even close to getting a job as a spy?” He had a point. “I am a former rebel... but my group was executed a while ago. Years ago, actually. I'm not sure if you remember.” Baekhyun tapped his head a few times, which confused Minseok slightly.

“Whatever, are you interested or not? If you say no, I'll leave tomorrow morning and act as if nothing has ever happened,” Suddenly, Baekhyun got real close to Minseok, close enough so he could feel the breath of the latter on his face. “if you want to live like a prisoner forever, if you know what I mean.” 

Baekhyun may not have sounded extremely convincing, but he had good points. Living like this, working his ass off only to live in fear to get brutally murdered with many people cheering for it as well? That's not living, that's torture. However, he had no idea who this Baekhyun really was, and one mistake could mean he'd be dead within hours.

“You can trust me, really.” Baekhyun stepped back with a smile, as if he didn't act creepy before. “How can I gain your trust, Kim Minseok?”


End file.
